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A break in the action

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Between now and midnight (which is when the first results come in over here), I can either sit here and develop an aneurysm, or, more constructively, I can post some random odds and ends that I've had sitting around for a while. Fortunately for all involved, I've decided on the second choice. So, in no particular order ... When I first arrived at my new apartment, the only thing waiting for me in my mailbox was a letter from my property manager telling me that someone would be around to fix a leaky radiator, and a bulk mail catalog from Ronja Versand . Ronja, as it is effectively known, is a retailer of the finer things in life: microfiber sheets, bath robes, and high fashion clothing for him and her. Best of all, Ronja delivers these products at very competitive prices. How do they manage to do this? By cutting out the middle man: products are shipped directly from 1993 to your door. Check out some of these dope threads. Fig. 1: Having a tough time choosing between a ...
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Ski Season

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It is wintertime in Switzerland, which means that it is ski time in Switzerland. Fortunately, there has been a lot of snow the last few weeks which means that the skiing is good and even total bums like me can go out and have fun. It is my aim that before I leave this country I will have advanced to the level of "mediocre" skier, no matter how much pain, suffering and freezing weather that involves. So far, there hasn't been too much of any of that bad stuff, but then again, my advancement hasn't progressed very far. Right after the New Year, my labmate Jens had an apartment in the mountains reserved for a week of skiing with his girlfriend and some friends of theirs that would be visiting. Due to some last-minute changes of plan, a space opened up in the apartment and I was invited to join Jens and his friends for a couple days of skiing. As I had stayed in the US until after the New Year, I basically got off the plane here in Switzerland, unpacked my bags from ...
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I fought the law and, I won!

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One of the constant pleasures of living in Switzerland is receiving bills that just do not make any sense. For instance, when Christine mailed me an official "Google" jacket, along with some other small items, I had to pay a bribe of 55 CHF at the post office in order to pick up the package. Why? Well, customs had opened the box and determined that the jacket was worth 300 CHF (ha!), then charged me tax on that value (25 CHF) and a "customs fee" of 30 CHF for not properly declaring the item. Lame. Although I have received countless packages from my parents without any customs costs (maybe because they ship to my work address), the same thing happened again when I ordered a pair of shoes online from England. After receiving the shoes (which were about 100 CHF), two weeks later I got a customs bill for 60 CHF. Not only did I pay tax and "customs fees", I also had to pay "administrative costs" and "commission." Super lame. I could g...
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